I can't watch The Visitor without crying

[OdoWanKenobi]

It's been said a hundred times before, but The Visitor is one of the most moving episodes of any television series in history. I've been re-watching DS9 from the beginning lately, and just came to The Visitor again. I've seen it plenty of times before, but I'm never quite ready for it, and am always reaching for the tissues long before the end, even. Every single time that Sisko reappears, and Jake is forced to lose him all over again, my eyes start gushing.

This time, especially. I lost my father about a month and a half ago. This time, the episode took on a whole new dimension for me. I was never as close to my father as Jake was to his, but it still made me think of the things I would give to have my father back. Obviously, I live in the real world, and my father is dead, not trapped in time. Like Jake, though, my father won't be around to see me grow into the man I want to be, to get married, to have children. Jake's story now mirrors my own, in a way.

I guess that's why this episode has always worked, and works even better for me now (which is saying something.) The emotions in it ring completely true. It never feels cloying, or melodramatic. It's a human story about the relationship between a father and son that tugs the heartstrings precisely because it is so true at its heart. What a masterpiece.

 

[EnterpriseF]

I can't either. The final six minutes always chokes me up.
I remember reading an article back in '96 (I think) that readers voted this the best Trek episode

 

[Praxius]

I like the episode... it's very well done and quite emotional in its setting.... though I never cried watching it.

It kind of reminds me of what families and loved ones must go through when someone goes missing without a trace and never found..... where they spend years trying everything they can to find answers to what happened to them, they're affected by it for the rest of their lives and can never rest until they have answers.

The twist here is that Jake knew what happened and his father kept appearing for a short period of time throughout his life, which would have continually re-opened those wounds and keeping it all fresh in his mind to the point of being obsessive over it... because otherwise he would feel like it was his fault that he didn't do enough to save him & would have been trapped forever in that white space.

 

[bbailey861]

I remember watching this one for the first time. The whole family was in the room and for the first time in a long time, that hour - minus the commercials - was one of the quietest I have ever spent. No one talked. They just watched. It was remarkable.

 

[Caesar753]

This was a truly touching episode. The Visitor embodies the kind of powerful drama that Star Trek, when firing on all cylinders, can deliver.

 

[Enterprise is Great]

You definitely need a box of tissues on hand when watching this episode. A masterpiece.

 

[CaptainMatt]

The Visitor is one of the most memorable Ds9ers I ever saw. I was moved by old jake and his sadness in the beginning when he says "this was the day...myfather died." Makes me wonder how well I will take it when my own father eventually passes on. Thanks to the OP for this remarkable thread about one of the finest treks ever made for TV.